Martí Ardanaz: bio-construction, clay and good music
From Nicaragua to the Empordà, we travel between cultures, natural materials and more human ways of living.
Architect, musician, cook of rice dishes and builder of houses that breathe. Martí Ardanaz has spent years cultivating a way of living that is more human, more natural and more connected to the environment. His studio, BioConstructive, fuses bio-construction and contemporary design. In this interview we talk about mud, travel, eco houses and songs.
Next to Lluís AmatMartí is part of Biosingulars, an alliance born from the meeting of people who share the same way of understanding housing: sustainable homes in harmony with the landscape. They are united by a passion for what they do, respect for the environment and the desire to build something that truly improves the lives of those who live there. This is the essence of Biosingulars.
"I only do two things in this life: houses and songs".
How did it all start? Where did your vocation begin?
I was studying architecture, but I needed to get out of the classroom. So one year I stopped and went on a backpacking trip. First through Europe, then Asia, until I landed in Nicaragua. There, thanks to an NGO, I built my first project: the extension of a hostel for Catalan aid workers. Pure intuition. Pure matter.
And that's where you started to build... literally and symbolically?
Yes, it was the first real contact with the work. Laying bricks with my hands, understanding the materials through my body. From that experience was born Re-Cooperatea collective I founded with friends to develop projects between Nicaragua and Barcelona.
When did bio-construction appear?
In my second project in Nicaragua I discovered bamboo as a structural material. It fascinated me. From then on I followed its trail to Colombia and then to Brazil, where I founded Re-Arqfocused on bio-construction techniques. Then I was already up to my neck in earth, wood and lime.
And so La BioConstructiva was born?
Exactly. After years in Brazil, when I returned to the Empordà, I founded La BioConstructiva with a very clear idea: to apply the principles of bio-construction without renouncing contemporary design. To make beautiful, efficient and, above all, human houses.
Can you tell us about a special project?
One that sums up quite well what I am trying to do is the A&M House in Girona. It has 320 m² and combines walls of walling, straw bales, lime, wood, concrete, chestnut woodwork, photovoltaic panels and aerothermal energy. Everything has been designed from a bioclimatic logic. Every decision has a reason.
What materials or techniques do you like to explore lately?
I have worked with BTC, cellulose, cork, green roofs, hemp and lime insulation... In one of the last houses we used prefabricated panels with hemp and lime in one of the houses. tiny house of 50 m² (+ loft). I am interested in everything that is modular, natural and efficient.
What inspires you?
Clay, Wright, Kahn, Anna Heringer, Keré, popular knowledge. But also music. I have a project called Ser - Tãowhere I mix electronica with Brazilian folk sounds. It's another way of building.
Favourite colour, book, film and record - in that order! ;D
- Colour, without a doubt, the olive green. I use it a lot in woodwork and kitchens. It has something warm and natural that combines very well with white lime walls or with the marble aesthetics of the walls of tapia.
- It's hard to choose one film, but I'd say "Fitzcarraldo". by Herzog with Klaus Kinski. Although all of Kubrick, the first Kurosawa or the Tarkovsky of Sacrifice also mark me. Lately I've been watching a lot of series, and the latest one I've been watching is So long Marianneabout Leonard Cohen's life on the Greek island of Hydra.
- And albums... the ones you listen to from beginning to end without skipping a song: Ziggy Stardust by David Bowie, Grace by Jeff Buckley, After Hours by Nina Simone, Construction by Chico Buarque, 1972 of Cartola, The New Abnormal And then there's Mozart, of course. Your Requiem is unrivalled.
What does your house look like, does it represent you?
Now I live in Rupià, in the family house. There's a piano, books, a fireplace and a small recording studio. I live with my mother and Gea, her dog, who is part of the landscape. Sometimes I imagine having a calf to make me coffee with its milk. For the moment, dreaming is enough.
A great plan at home?
Cook a rice stew, put on a good record - Ziggy Stardust, Grace, whatever. Tiny Desk-and receiving friends. In my house there is always music, people, food... and that energy that can only be found where you really live.
Do you have any houses left to build?
Mine. I dream of a house in the Empordà that brings together everything I have learnt. That it would be a habitable manifesto. It doesn't exist yet, but I've been thinking about it for years. It will be small, with natural materials, beautiful and very lively.
